A River Flows in You
by SerasCain
Summary: Ino starts seeing Naruto in a new light and falls for him while Sakura realizes over time who she is really in love with. Both girls' perception of Naruto changes as they get to know him, slowly cracking his mask. InoNaruSaku centric.
1. Chapter 1

A River Flows in You 

by SerasCain

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way, shape or form.

**A/N:** This is my first attempt at writing any sort of story so...be as brutal as necessary, hehe. Kinda wondering how well I did or if I did anything right at all. Thanks. This story is centered on Sakura and Ino's perceptions of Naruto as they both get closer to him.

"Speech"

_'thoughts'_

**"Inner Sakura"**

_Flashbacks_

_------------------------------------------------------- _

_She was six at the time, and strong as she was, she still couldn't help but cry as she rubbed her bruised and bleeding knee. The little blonde haired girl had been quite careless as she ran along path leading through the park, admiring the beauty of the cherry blossom trees that surrounded her without paying much attention to her route. As such, she was caught completely off guard when she tripped on a root and went tumbling down the side of the hill, scraping her knee after coming to a crashing halt. She continued to clutch her injured leg while trying valiantly and vainly to stop the tears from cascading down her cheeks. A hand suddenly appeared before her, reaching down to help her right herself, and she looked up to see the smiling face of a small blonde haired boy. His eyes were closed in a squint and he had a gentle grin on his face, as he waited for her to take his hand. The most curious markings adorned his cheeks, looking very similar to whiskers, and his canines appeared a little longer than normal. After a moment, his eyes opened and she could see the azure lights sparkling brightly in his eyes, a genuine look of concern crossing his face as he kneeled down to get eye to eye with her. _

"_Are you alright?" he asked as he glanced quickly down at her injured knee and pulled out an orange handkerchief to gently dab and clean off the blood that was slowly accumulating. She couldn't find the words to say so she just nodded at him as he continued his gentle ministrations of tending to her, leaning in to blow lightly on the scrape. He looked back up, a large smile returning to his face as his bright blue eyes met hers and he reached his hand out to her again. She took it without hesitation this time, and he lightly pulled her up to her feet, his smile growing even brighter than it was before._

"_My name's Uzumaki Naruto!" he exclaimed loudly as he continued to grin, "Here, you can use this to clean yourself up. Are you feeling better now?"_

_He handed her the handkerchief and glanced back down at her leg again to make sure she would be ok before returning his gaze to her, eyes returning to a squint as he maintained his smile. She smiled gratefully at him and bowed a little in thanks as she took the handkerchief._

"_My name's Y-"_

_She gasped as she was cut off by a rock pelting the boy in the side of the face. She whipped her head around to see who could have done such a thing before spotting a few adults on the path preparing more rocks to throw at the boy. She turned again to help the boy and froze when she saw the look on his face. His eyes were no longer bright, and they appeared dull and lusterless as he stared at the ground, his head not moving from when he was struck by the rock. She turned on her heel, prepared to yell at the villagers when he spoke up._

"_It's ok…don't worry about me."_

_Her head spun around again as she stared at him, open-mouthed and speechless as another rock smashed into his side. He grimaced but did nothing to stop or dodge it._

"_Get away from that girl, you monster!"  
"Stop harassing our children! You shouldn't be here!"_

_The villagers continued to yell and throw rocks at the boy, when a few started coming dangerously close to her. Still in shock at the situation unfolding around her, she couldn't get her legs to move when a rock flew at her and in a flash the boy was in front of her. The rock connected with the back of his head and he let out a grunt, falling to his knees before looking back up at her with a pleading look in his eyes._

"_I think…" He paused as another rock hit him in the back, "you should probably go - you can keep that."_

_She didn't know what to do as she watched him, her hands clutching the orange piece of cloth he had given her. One more look at his azure eyes and she turned to run, her mind trying to grasp what had just happened as she whispered , "Thank you…"_

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She woke with a start, shooting straight up from her bed with her hands clutching her nightshirt as she looked around frantically, her eyes blinking rapidly while she tried to gather her thoughts. Her room was illuminated with the glow of early morning, the sunlight peeking through the blinds of her window and seemingly wrapping around the walls. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand and noted it was 6:00AM. Stumbling out of her bed, she slapped haphazardly at the clock to make sure its alarm wouldn't go off and then proceeded to her bathroom, set on taking a long hot shower to clear her mind. She wasn't sure why she had dreamed about that memory as she hadn't thought of it in years.

Steam began to rise from her shower as she stepped in, gasping a little at the near scalding water splashed against her light coloured skin. She immersed herself in the path of water, letting a moan escape her lips as the heat relaxed her tensed muscles. Leaning forward, she braced herself against the wall with an arm as her blonde locks dropped around her face, water cascading around her head like a waterfall. Her thoughts returned to her dream as she remembered the day in question. She felt bothered by her memories, unable to place her discomfort as her mind was hazy, so she lingered in the shower, allowing the comforting warmth to bring her at ease. Suddenly, her head shot up as her ice blue eyes widened, realization dawning upon her.

"_My name's Uzumaki Naruto!"_

She quickly got out of the shower, turning the water off as she scrambled to dry herself and wrap her towel around herself. She rushed into her room and threw open her desk drawer, pawing around until she found the item in question and pulled it out. The orange cloth hadn't changed much over the six years that she had it; she had kept it with her for everyday for a month after that day before she decided to put it away for safekeeping. While grateful for what the boy had done for her, over the years as she watched as all the adults around continued to yell at the boy, saying what a failure he was and how he shouldn't be around to ruin the children of the village, she began to wonder if she should ever talk to him again. As time went by, she began to forget what had happened and she was influenced by the adults and other children around her – making fun of the poor blonde child seemed like a normal thing to do because everyone else always used him as the scapegoat. A pang of guilt went through her heart as she realized what she had done to the boy who had helped her that day - the boy who she had still thought of as a failure, even up until the chuunin exams. Pocketing the handkerchief, she got ready for her day, fixing up her hair into its usual pony tail while her bangs draped over the left side of her face.

Looking into the mirror, Yamanaka Ino was pleased with her appearance, her hair swaying side to side gently as she turned her head to make sure everything was right. She made up her mind to find the loud hyperactive whiskered ninja that day and apologize for the way she treated him before. He may be obnoxious and ridiculously dumb, but he had been kind to her in the past without even knowing her and that was more than she could say in return. She headed downstairs to eat breakfast before she headed off to the flower shop, intending to take a half day off so she could search for the boy in the afternoon.

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The sun was high above the sky, shining brilliantly over the peaceful village as people went about their business as usual. The Sound-Sand war seemed to be a memory of the past now as life resumed its serene characteristics before the tragic battle during the chuunin exams. The streets were bustling with people, shouts of merchants trying to sell their wares and laughter filling the air. The godaime Hokage had done a wonderful job of restoring the spirit of the people, and the repairs of the village were practically complete. Everything seemed to be going back to the way it was supposed to be, and a certain pink haired girl was happily making her way through the streets, humming a tune to herself as she headed to her friend's store.

Haruno Sakura's thoughts were occupied by the raven haired boy that was her teammate, and she felt grateful for the Godaime returning to the village and healing her crush so quickly. She giggled to herself as she thought about her plans for the rest of the day. She was going to buy some flowers for him and then go see and take care of him for the rest of the day, and perhaps if she was lucky, even get a hug or a kiss as a thank you. **Shannaro! He'll definitely fall for us now! There's no way he can resist this!** She shook her head, trying to quiet her inner self but she couldn't keep the huge smile from appearing on her face as she made her way into the flower shop.

_------------------------------------------------------- _

The bell hanging over the door gave a ring to alert the store employees that a customer had entered, and Ino looked up from reading her magazine behind the counter. She spotted a bouncing blob of pink hair over the aisles of flowers in her store and smiled, knowing her friend was coming. The day had been relatively slow for her as customers came and went, and she was beginning to get antsy because she still wanted to have enough time to go out searching for the blonde loudmouth that had been in her dream last night. The fact that her friend was on the same team as him and was now heading towards her helped her out immensely as she could probably ascertain his whereabouts from her, although she knew that her friend didn't really treat him that well either. She didn't bother thinking about it more as she called out, "Oi! Forehead girl! What's up?"

"Hey, Ino-pig!" She replied loudly, her friend's usual insult greeting bouncing off her happy countenance. She was in too good of a mood to let her friend's teasing affect her today, and she was inwardly glad that she had her friend back now anyways. They had been the best of friends when they were younger, but fighting over the dark haired boy had created a deep rift in their friendship which was only healed when they both realized how much they truly valued each other during the exams. Now they had a friendly rivalry still, but they had an understanding with each other that they wouldn't let something like that destroy what they had with each other again either. She grinned as she continued, "Not much, just needing to buy some flowers for _my_ Sasuke-kun."

Ino felt her eye twitch as she glared at the beaming face of her friend. She shook her head and sighed, knowing full well where this was going. "Sure sure, billboard-brow, we both know he's busy dreaming about me."

"Cha! As if, we both know he wants me. Anyways I need some red camellias, so hop to it!"

"Ooh, 'you're a flame in my heart', eh? I see I see," Ino teased as she got up from behind the counter to gather the flowers. She grabbed two and came back to the counter, wrapping them up cutely and handing them to her friend. "So everything's good now, Sasuke-kun is ok?"

"Yeah…he's still being quiet after Hokage-sama healed him but…I feel like everything's finally getting back to normal after Gaara."

"Thank god, Sasuke-kun was strong enough to defeat Gaara, huh? If that didn't happen…jeez, who knows!"

"…" The pink haired girl looked down at the flowers she was buying, contemplating whether or not she should say the thoughts on her mind.

"_Thank you, Sasuke-kun. For that time you saved me from the grip of sand."_

"…_No."_

"_What?" She said with a look of surprise on her face._

"…_The one who saved you was Naruto."_

"_No way. You're just being modest. Sure, Naruto is getting stronger but that sand guy –"_

"_It's the truth," he replied coldly, "To save you, that guy risked death. Up until now you haven't really seen him, so you haven't seen his strength either."_

She continued staring, lost in the memory of that day when she found out what Naruto had done for her. She felt bad for wronging him, for not accepting that he could be that strong, for not believing that he would go that far for her. In her heart, she knew it would be wrong to deny him that, to deny him recognition, and she wondered how badly she had hurt him already. She was awoken from her thoughts by her blonde haired friend poking her in her side and looking inquisitively at her.

"Oi, forehead, you ok? You zoned out on me there."

"…It wasn't Sasuke-kun." She continued to look at the flowers in her hands.

"Huh? What are you talking about? Who else could it be…" Ino looked at her friend as if she had sprouted a new head. She was confused by the behavior the pink haired girl had begun exhibiting at the mention of Gaara, and wondered if perhaps she dragged back some bad memories. Stooping a little to see the face of the other kunoichi, she was surprised to see a small peaceful smile on her face.

"It was Naruto…he saved us…me…"

"…" Ino was startled, she knew Naruto was strong after defeating Inuzuka Kiba and Hyuuga Neji, but to think that he was capable of defeating the psychotic redhead from Suna was an entirely different thing. Her mind drifted back to her dream from last night as she subconsciously began playing with the cloth in her pocket; she quickly remembered this gave her the perfect opportunity to ask Sakura about her teammate.

"Hey…Sakura, I was meaning to ask you…do you know where I can find him? Naruto?"

It was her friend's turn to look inquisitively at the blonde haired girl. She quirked her eyebrow, "Hm...knowing him, he's probably going overboard training at our field. Why are ya looking for him?"

"Oh…I just remembered something he did for me a long time ago…I wanted to thank him" She smiled, hoping she wasn't sounding too suspicious and that the pink-haired girl wouldn't pry anymore.

Sakura shrugged and waved, "Well, I'm going to go take care of Sasuke-kun now. Are you going to drop by later?"

"Probably, I'll go later when I'm not busy," she waved to the girl and went about the store to get ready to go. Her thoughts drifted back to the blonde boy and she wondered just how much Naruto could really surprise people. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she yelled upstairs to notify her mom that she was going to leave, "Mom! I'm going out now, store's all yours now!"

_------------------------------------------------------- _

She let her mind wander over what Sakura had said earlier about the battle with Gaara as she strolled through the fields, slowly making her way towards training ground 7. Once again, she found herself feeling a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach as she thought of the hyperactive ninja. To think that her dream boy, Sasuke, would steadfastly state that it was Naruto who had saved them all from the wrath of the Sand ninja was pretty amazing…the more she thought about what the blonde shinobi had accomplished, the more she began to wonder how much more there was to him than he let show.

The sun was beginning to descend in the sky as the afternoon dragged on, the comforting orange glow waning as the first stars appeared in the deepest blue regions of the heavens. A gentle breeze was blowing through the field, the grass swaying quietly as the shadows cast by the three wooden logs in the field stretched out towards the small river running through the training ground. A lone figure stood on the banks of the river, his head tilted back as he gazed up at the sky. The figure looked down and began to move, a series of slow and fluid movements as he danced in an elegant kata around the river shore before stepping into and onto the river. His golden hair ruffled in the wind as he continued his exercise above the river, eyes closed while he let his mind clear in meditation. His shirt and jacket lay discarded on the embankment, still wet from his earlier practice in the river. He continued, as he had for the past few hours, tuning out his surroundings so he was unaware as the blonde kunoichi approached.

Ino finally sauntered up the path towards the training ground and saw the boy she was looking for moving about on the river. She stopped to watch for a few moments, wondering if he would stop when he felt her presence. His graceful movements soon had her attention, and she crept closer to have a better look, trying to keep quiet so as to not disturb the ninja. Her eyes widened as she sat down by the wooden logs, leaning against it as she watched the blonde ninja continue his kata, oblivious to his observer. She couldn't help but be amazed at the self-control and refinement he showed in his training, all signs of the normally exuberantly energetic shinobi gone as he had a strange look of peace and contentment on his face.

'_Is this really Naruto? After that dream yesterday…it seems like everything's changed about him,'_ she pondered, her eyes never leaving the gleaming figure on the river. She felt the blood rush to her face as she realized he was shirtless, his muscles glistening from the water and sweat as the fading sunlight washed over him. She noted that he was surprisingly well defined, never having seen what he looked like under his ridiculously bright orange and blue jacket before.

'_My god, it's like he's two different people…no, that's not right…it's just that I never knew him before,'_ she felt a pang of guilt strike her heart as she watched him. _'I came here to apologize to him…for treating him the way I did before, but it still hasn't changed…I still don't know anything about him.'_

He began to finish his kata, coming to a standstill in the middle of the river, his arms crossed in front of him as he concentrated. His hands moved together quickly, forming the ram seal as he gathered his chakra, intent on improving his chakra control further. As he felt the familiar swirl of water around his feet, his energy swirling out from the center of his body, a particularly intricate spiral pattern appeared on his stomach, faintly glowing red. The blonde kunoichi was quick to notice, her eyes riveted on the strange mark now adorning the boy on the river. _'What…what is that? I've never seen anything like that before!'_

She stood up and walked down to the embankment, still staring at the boy's stomach before she realized that she had gotten too close. The boy tensed up, the small swirl of water around his feet dissolving into the river current as his eyes shot open. The sparkling blue met her own as she stood frozen, unsure what to do and what he could possibly be thinking. She panicked a bit, the fright showing in her face before she could stop it and in return she saw a flash of anguish cross his azure orbs, and the boy's shoulders sagged a bit, his head dropping before he picked himself back up. He looked up, back into her eyes, a large grin plastering his face as he said, "Hey Ino! …What are you doing here?"

_------------------------------------------------------- _


	2. Chapter 2

A River Flows in You

by SerasCain

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way, shape or form.

**A/N:** Well, this chapter took a bit longer for me to get out than I expected...Wanted to get it out yesterday but oh well. Thanks for the reviews, guys, well the few that I got at least. I'm assuming since noone else is reviewing that means I'm doing things right. I figure if people aren't reviewing, that just means I'm not screwing up yet right? Hahaha. Oh right, I meant to ask...can anyone tell me how long the sasuke retrieval arc was in terms of days? I was under the impression it happened all in 1 day but for story purposes, I kinda need it to be longer...and also it seems kinda wack that they can run to another country and do all that fighting in 1 day.  
Well anyways, on to the story.

"Speech"

_'thoughts'_

**"Inner Sakura"**

_Flashbacks_

_-------------------------------------------------------_

His gaze never wavered from her face, the dumb grin that she had grown so accustomed to now spreading from ear to ear, as he waited for her answer. To the kunoichi, it was so glaringly obvious that the smile was false that she almost wanted to slap herself for not noticing it before. She tried to return his smile, but she couldn't keep the sadness from her eyes and she failed miserably, her lips just twitching strangely before she sighed and walked towards him.

She sat down on the river bank and stared at him, the confused look on his face growing ever more present as the minutes passed by. A few more moments, and she began to lose her temper despite herself.

"Are you just going to stand there like an idiot, or are you going to come and keep a girl company!" She growled out, although to her credit she sounded a lot nicer than she thought she would. At her words, he looked even more confused; his sparkling blue eyes never leaving her face as he tentatively walked off the river and stood beside her. "I'm sorry, Naruto…I didn't mean that."

He laughed, plopping down on the ground beside her, a genuine smile growing on his face this time, and she felt a knot in her stomach, her heart fluttering for just a moment. She couldn't imagine what could possibly make her feel this way, but she knew she was being drawn in by his smile. His eyes were so captivating, and she had to convince herself to actually stop staring into his face. She felt her face flush a little bit as she turned away to gaze at the river, the pale moonlight now illuminating the field they were in. Subconsciously, her hand slipped into her pocket and her fingers felt comfort at the orange cloth, intertwining with it while she played with it absentmindedly. Her thoughts drifted back to the boy beside her, _'This is Naruto…why am I acting like this? I've never been bothered by him before…'_

She looked back up at him, regretting it immediately as she saw his questioning gaze directed at her, his cerulean eyes watching her intently. _'I never noticed before but when he really smiles, he's actually quite handsome…maybe it's because I've never really seen him smile before,'_ she thought sadly, tearing her eyes away from him again to look up at the stars. She fell onto her back and sighed loudly, wondering if she could gather the courage to break the awkward silence enveloping them when he did it for her.

"Hey Ino…why are you here? It doesn't seem like you to come look for me, hahaha…" he finished sheepishly, his hand scratching the back of his head like he was so prone to do. He lay down on his back next to her, arms crossing behind his head as he watched the stars, his shirt and jacket still lay discarded beside them.

"I just…wanted to see how you were doing, that's all," she muttered, and then smacked her forehead as she realized how stupid she sounded. "I mean… uhh… I wanted to… talk to you…yeah!"

"Err, ok, Ino… are you feeling alright? You're face is kinda red! Are you sick?" He leaned over, peering at her face with the most curious expression.

She nearly smacked him as she waved her hands frantically in front of her face, "No no no! I'm fine! Oh my god, does a girl need a reason to want to talk to you, jeez!" She grumbled, sitting up and turning to him before glowering. He beamed at her, the moonlight dancing in his eyes and it took her a moment to realize what she had said. Her face tinged red again and she began to sputter, but he interrupted.

"Well, this would really be the first time a girl wanted to talk to me for no reason," he grinned. Ino felt a little shocked at his words, but thinking back to her dream she realized it probably was true. A sinking feeling entered her chest, the guilt and disgust of her old behavior towards him washing over her so she pulled the orange cloth out of her pocket, clenching it tightly between her hands in an attempt to comfort herself. His gaze was drawn to it and he looked surprised for a moment before recovering, his trademark smile looking incredibly fake as it covered his face.

"Naruto…I'm sorry."

He looked at her seriously, the smile gone from his face instantly as he wondered what she was talking about. "What for, Ino…you haven't done anything."

"You remember this, don't you? Don't lie…I saw it in your eyes," she sighed. She looked back up, not wanting to see his reaction as she continued, "Six years ago…you helped me after I fell; you were so kind to me. And then those villagers came, and I didn't know what the hell was going on so I ran…and as things went on, I guess I just forgot..."

"You don't have to apologize, Ino-chan, it's really alright," he grinned, flopping onto his back again. "I'm used to it anyways."

She felt a little startled at his adding a suffix to her name and then the ease at which he said that it was normal for him and he was used it, but she shook her head and persisted anyways, "No, I have to… I want to thank you… even though I know it's really late," she turned to smile at him.

"Haha, it's alright…you're welcome I guess?" he scratched the back of his head again, a sign of his embarrassment. "So is that the only reason you came down here?"

She looked at him again, noting how the moonlight illuminated his boyish features – the whisker-like markings on his face, the peaceful smile he had as he stared at the stars. Her gaze wandered down and once again, she felt herself blushing as she noted how toned and muscular he really was under his ridiculous outfit. Smiling to herself, she replied, "No, I wanted to get know you better too. Of course, if that's alright with you… I mean friends should know more about each other than just the fact that you love ramen, right?"

He laughed and sat up, a heartfelt smile now adorning his face; his eyes squinted up from his expression like so many years ago. She giggled, glad that she had been able to bring some genuine happiness to him. She pondered a moment, her mind drifting back to that mark she had seen on his stomach and to his amazingly different demeanor while he had been training. In fact, now that she thought about it, he was being surprisingly calm at the moment as well. She turned to him, seeing his well muscled back as he leaned forward, arms resting on his knees while he looked around.

"Naruto? Can I ask you something…"

"Sure thing, Ino! What's up?"

She felt a little stung that he wasn't using -chan with her name anymore but she shook it off and continued, "How come…you're so different right now? You don't seem anything like the Naruto we usually see. I mean…no offense or anything, but shouldn't you be bouncing around like a moron?"

He had a strange look on his face as he scrunched his nose up in thought. She couldn't stop a giggle from escaping, and he soon had his usual bright grin on his face as he looked at her. "I dunno, I guess? Maybe I'm tired…Yea! That's it!" He tried to wave his arms around convincingly, but she wasn't buying it. Then a loud rumble silenced them both, and the blonde boy's face turned red with embarrassment.

"Eh…guess I'm a little hungry after training," he grinned sheepishly.

She couldn't help but laugh as he got up, reaching his hand out to help her up. She took it and in one strong tug, he pulled her to a standing position before glancing around, looking for his clothes. She thought for a moment as she watched him and then decided as he finished putting on his now dry clothes, "Hey Naruto? Wanna go get some ramen?"

The effect was instant, and he spun around on his heels, a smile on his face so blinding that she had to blink several times before she could see again. Before she knew it, he had her hand in his and she was being dragged into the town at an incredible pace and she had to practically shout, "You're paying, of course! It's only proper for a guy!"

_-------------------------------------------------------_

Ino awoke the next morning feeling particularly happy. She was surprised at how much fun she could actually have with the crazy ninja. She was also slightly disturbed at the sheer amount of ramen he could pack away in that small form of his. The rest of the night had passed by rather quickly, and she spent most of it laughing at the antics of her new found friend. She had asked him a myriad of things, and he had playfully answered most. And the most curious of things had occurred to her; the more she asked, the more she wanted to know about him. He was no longer just the knuckleheaded loser that everyone had made him out to be. Granted, she had known that since witnessing him defeat opponents thought far stronger than he was, but it felt different by actually talking with him about it.

"_So, Naruto, when you're done slobbering all over the table, you mind taking some time to talk to a lady?" she smirked._

_He turned his head towards her, having at least the decency to not try to speak while the noodles were funneled into his mouth like some rampant vacuum cleaner. He grinned as he finished slurping, nodding a little before he went back to sucking down more of his favorite dish and she couldn't help but laugh. He was definitely a strange one, and she noticed that he was acting much like his normal self now that they were back in town in the ramen stand._

"_Hey…if you don't slow down, you're going to choke, ya know."_

_And as if on cue, he began to gag, his hand pounding his chest as he scrambled to find his glass of water. A second later, he had finished chugging the liquid and slammed the cup back down on the counter, a loud lip-smacking sigh echoing through the little stand. Ino shook her head in disgust, the corners of her lips upturned in a little smile as she waited for him to finish his little ritual. He spun his chair around to face her, beaming at her with a huge grin._

"_Ahh, ramen is totally the gift of the gods, don't ya think, Ino?"_

She snorted at that thought, remembering his ten minute long rant about the different flavors and virtues of each ingredient that went into making the ramen. He most definitely would have continued ranting on about the noodles had she not smacked him across the back of the head and reminded him that she didn't care.

"_But, Ino! How can you deny that ramen isn't the greatest thing ever?" Naruto whined, rubbing the back of his head._

"_So you like ramen more than Sakura then?" she teased, knowing full well how he'd react. His face immediately turned red and he began to sputter incoherently. She giggled at his expression, but she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed and she wasn't sure why. The kunoichi decided to let the boy off and went back to asking about his training earlier._

"_Anyways, what were you doing earlier, Naruto? I've never seen you so…quiet and intense before. It's like you were a completely different person."_

"_Oh, it's just a training regimen I picked up somewhere…heheh…uhh…yeah," he grinned sheepishly. She quirked her an eyebrow at him, obviously not satisfied with his reply and he quickly looked away, whistling innocently._

"_You know… I can't help but notice you seem a bit different now. I mean… you aren't… so goofy like you usually are. Ok, I guess I've never really seen you train before…" she looked away, the guilt and sadness from her dream returning to her full-force. She muttered quietly, "or really tried to see you at all…"_

_She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, noting the look of deep concentration on his face. He seemed to want to say something, but he kept his mouth shut and continued to stare at his now empty bowl of noodles. The girl couldn't help but wonder if perhaps she reminded him too much of how she used to treat him and she was beginning to feel overwhelmingly responsible for adding to the way he used to be treated. She wanted to reach out and hug him and apologize for all the wrongdoings that had been done to him, but she knew she shouldn't. She had no right. So she just sat there watching him, waiting for him to reply._

"_Hahaha! Oh, it's nothing, it's normal for me! I was just concentrating harder than usual today…that's it!" He shook his head and waved his arms excitedly as if to try to wave away her image of him. He looked straight into her eyes, and she felt herself drawn into his gaze, the deep blue colours seemingly coming to life as the light flickered with the darker flecks in his irises. While he was saying one thing, she could tell that he was obviously hiding something, behind something, but she wasn't sure. Not wanting to pry more she just moved on. _

"_Oh ok…well…next question! What was that thing I saw on your stomach? It was like…this weird spiral and it was glow-"_

"_That's nothing, Ino-chan… I don't think I wanna talk about that, please," he cut her off quickly, turning his gaze away once again. She knew better than to say otherwise, the look on his face seemed to imply that it'd be best for her to leave it alone. He leaned back on his stool and stretched, making a big show of yawning as if trying to convince everyone around that he was very tired._

"_Well, I better get back to my apartment, gotta make sure I get my rest!" he said as he hopped up and laid down the money to pay for his and her bowls. He turned to leave, and as he was ducking under the curtains, she heard him whisper, "Thank you, Ino…it was nice talking to you."_

She smiled, remembering the sincere thanks he had given her at the end. She couldn't explain it, but it made her heart tremble with a feeling she couldn't decipher. Yes, today would be a good day for her, she decided. She would let this feeling carry her through the day, and perhaps afterwards she would go look for Naruto again, maybe learn more about him. Her thoughts drifted back to his strange behavior regarding the mark on his stomach, but she shook her head clear of those thoughts. She was sure he would tell her when he felt it was ok to, after all Naruto just seemed to be that type of guy. She looked out her window at the rising sun, watching the light slowly spread over the village and she thought about the blonde ninja once again, _'Naruto… you're a surprising guy, huh… who would have thought you would be the mysterious handsome man…Thank you, Naruto… for being so forgiving.'_

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**A/N:** I think I've got an idea on how to handle the next chapter, so I'll try to get it out as soon as possible. Be sure to tell me what you guys think so far, thanks.


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